The present invention relates to an agricultural distribution machine with a system for its automated activation based on spray profiles, the agricultural distribution machine having the features as described and claimed herein. The invention further relates to a method for spreading liquid and/or solid plant protection products by means of a distribution apparatus, the method having the features as described and claimed herein.
Agricultural distribution machines or field sprayers, are used for spreading or for applying liquid and/or solid plant protection products and/or fertilizers. Such field sprayers having a distribution apparatus that is oriented transversely to the driving direction and moved across a plant growth, the distribution apparatus normally formed by a spray boom, are known in different embodiment variants, such as a self-propelled field sprayer or a field sprayer that is towed by means of or hitched onto a towing vehicle.
The aim of all of these field sprayers is to spread a defined fluid volume of plant protection products, for example in the form of pesticides or fertilizers, evenly and with a definable intensity onto a plant growth, where the process of distributing the fluid volume is to be carried out preferably depending on the respective plant protection product to be spread. Various possibilities for achieving a distribution that is as even as possible are known in the prior art.
Arranged on the spray boom of the distribution apparatus are nozzle holders that are located spaced apart from each other. Mounted on these nozzle holders, in turn, is at least one spray nozzle, generally, however, a plurality of spray nozzles. For producing the desired distribution of the plant protection products, the spray nozzles each generate a spray cone directed toward the ground or toward the plant growth. Depending on the number and the type of the specifically activated spray nozzles, different nozzle profiles can thus be configured.
A nozzle holder, which is associated with several spray nozzles with different characteristics, is known in the art, for example, as shown in DE 10 2011 053 420 A1. Different spray nozzles can be activated or different nozzle profiles can be produced according to the desired drop spectrum or spreading spectrum.
Besides the definition of nozzle profiles with different nozzle pitches, further parameters exist in known distribution apparatuses for varying the spray cones or for achieving the desired distribution precision of the plant protection products. One variation, for example, consists in changing the height control, that is to say, in changing the distance between the plant growth or the ground surface and the distribution apparatus, and this can have a positive or negative effect in particular on the drift. A further variation consists in using different spray pressures, i.e., the spray pressure at which the plant protection product is spread over the growth. This spray pressure depends on the driving speed and on the spreading quantity, among other things.
In order to achieve the desired or required distribution for the specific plant protection product to be spread, the variations or the parameters between nozzle profile, height control, and spray pressure each have to be adjusted with respect to each other.
For this purpose, a system is already known from the prior art, in which the activation of different spray nozzles is carried out in an automated manner, based on the spray pressure currently existing at the distribution apparatus. However, in the known systems it is not possible for the user or for the operator to define which spray nozzle combinations are to be activated. Also, there is no system known in the prior art in which an automated adaptation of the height control is carried out in addition to an automated activation of different spray nozzle combinations. Up to now, the height control had to be manually adapted in each case. In particular, however, with frequent changes of the driving speed or of the spreading quantity such a system is not convenient or is too sluggish and it is thus not possible to control the distribution apparatus based on GPS data, for example. In particular in precision farming, this manual activation has proven unsuitable for practice, as frequent and quick switchovers between the spray profiles at an adapted distribution precision are desired.